Daniel's “Freshman Time Capusle” Reflection Essay

For my second semester, I found both my MATH240 (linear algebra) class to be the most surprising class. I discovered it as I had to take a linear algebra course to satisfy my credit requirement and math requirement for upper level Computer Science courses. For the MATH240 class I was surprised about both the weekly quizzes (something I had not experienced before in a college level math class) and the lack of homework assignments, which I had initially had taken as a good thing, but later realized made practicing content and preparing for quizzes much harder. Furthermore, my professor for MATH240 did not have any TAs for his discussions, which essentially turned discussion sections into a second lecture. A strategy I regret not having used was to have checked teacher rating sites like PlanetTerp beforehand to see how the various professor’s teaching styles were. While my professor was not a bad lecturer or teacher in general, I definitely would have benefitted from more practice during discussions and if I had noticed this wasn’t something he provided from a website like PlanetTerp, I probably would’ve registered for a different professor instead. I would say my greatest success in developing a strong relationship with a professor was my student-teacher relationship with my English teacher. The biggest obstacle with other professors was that they would simply not be available to meet or would have meeting times that made meetings difficult. For example, my MATH240 professor only had office hours on Tuesdays and Fridays, with his hours on Tuesdays being online only. My Computer science professor didn’t have personal office hours at all, and any meetings about the class had to be done with a TA instead. My English teacher was the most available by far, having office hours for most days of the week and being most receptive to meetings. I recommend the incoming students try to go to office hours as much as their schedule allows, as it allows you to ask questions and just bond with your professor in general. Knowing a lot of my peers has definitely helped me both prepare for assignments and exams, and just keep my mental health in check in general. Having people you know in your classes definitely helps with your schoolwork, as you can help each other get homework done, prepare for exams and projects, and form study groups. A group of friends can also just help you relax and take your mind off stress, which is a definite benefit to your mental health in the long run. One of the hardest obstacles is just getting the courage to talk to new people, but if you can just find it within yourself to get up and talk to the people around you or go to social events, you’ll find yourself surrounded by people you know in no time. I suppose I was least prepared in how to manage my time and how to study with minimal resources/assistance from my professors. This was especially true for my linear algebra class, where the lack of homework, but large number of quizzes made me really struggle for the class. I suggest that prospective students should focus on attending every class and practice finding good sources for practice problems, be it through online resources or physical textbooks provided by the class. Collaboration would also be a huge help in this case, as you can share problems that you found effective for preparation with other students, and they can do the same for you.

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Last modified: 10 May 2022